Zimbabwe

Bright future for Zimbabwean women artists.

_{By Martin Chemhere, Harare mchemhere@yahoo.com}

_{Rising Zimbabwean artist Mercy Moyo thinks that the era of the Zimbabwean female artist is yet to come.}

 _{Speaking one month after scooping the Outstanding Visual Artist Award – 2 Dimension Category in the National Arts Merit Awards (NAMA) held on 3 March 2007, she said that she is already among the new breed of artists out to make a new difference in the local visual arts world.}

_{She exuded a lot of confidence and was equally optimistic about the future of Zimbabwean women artists, herself in particular.}

 _{“I am very much happy to have won in the National Arts Merit Awards. They (awards) are the biggest arts accolades in Zimbabwe and considering that I am only five years old in the visual arts scene, the future looks bright for me. I am actually looking at traveling to regional and international art exhibitions, colleges and conferences. I have already tested what it means to be among the best artists, the established creative minds and those who are famous internationally because of their great works”}

_{She won the coveted award with her painting titled “African Women” executed in acrylic, canvas and collage. “It was my first time to win a major award at a major national event”, she recalled.  Now that she has won a major award, Moyo said that she will work much harder to maintain a “winning streak”. “I will now work harder as I am already an award winner already interacting with influential people in art business. This is just the start and I am ready and more confident to go out into the world”.}

_{An all round artists, having trained in sculpture, print making, photography and painting, Mercy Moyo believes that she prefers the later as she is “a born painter”. “I am not comfortable in working in the other artistic disciplines despite studying them. I can say that I like working in photography to some extent as I have exhibited photographs in the last two years. But the art of painting is my forte, I am a born painter”, said the shy and hardworking artist.}

_{She said her winning at the NAMA allayed the fears she had harboured for years, that only established artists are recognized at the prestigious awards” “My winning taught me something – that in art one can be recognized on merit rather than years of experience they have amassed”, she said. “Although female artists had won before, I had remained pessimistic about young artists winning. I think this kind of recognition will now spur young visual artists to work hard and be recognized among their mentors. I now see a great future for the young, for they are now gaining more confidence through quicker recognition”.}

 _{“To those young and creative the awards will just come and they will help to motivate you to surpass the ones before you. If the established artists keep winning it sometimes demoralizes the emerging artists because they will think that accolades are only meant for those who have been in the arts industry for decades only. Now I am looking at attending several workshops in other countries, being invited to exhibitions to gain exposure”, she envisaged the future.}

_{Moyo says despite her portrayal of women figures and issues in her work, she is not an activist. “My focus on women in my work is merely because I like their shape. We have a shape that fascinates. I like the way we dress, the way we gather, talk and walk. We are very expressive and we are the real embodiment of African beauty”. She has shunned being an activist, as she says she does not want to be seen to be “controversial” by other people. “I just want to portray the real African woman – in her long skirts, fuller figure, with her head nicely covered and not showing off. The African woman in my work does not wear mini skirts, she abides by the norms and rules of the typical African way of life”.}

_{Inspiration to her has come from artists such as Charles Kamangwana, Hilary Kashiri (the late) Rose West (late and ex-director of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe), Richard Witikani, David Chinyama and Tony Mhonda among others. She also reads catalogues and booklets of well-known artists while making it a point to go through visual arts booklets, catalogues and magazines. She mentioned the scarcity of materials like paints and brushes as one of the major challenges in her work although at the moment she is on a one year residence with National Gallery of Zimbabwe awarded after her recent success at the NAMA.}

_{“Although I used to struggle for material, I would like to say that the recognition I received this year at NAMA has helped ease that problem, at least for the duration of the current year. I have access to anything I need from the gallery. “After winning of NAMA the gallery management felt I was too good to be left alone without genuine assistance and further guidance. Now I have exposure to the library, international and local visitors, and materials among other things. Most importantly, visitors have contributed to the improvement of my work in progress or finished”.}

_{Ever since winning the award, and having started the residence she revealed that her artistic life had begun to change and wished it grew to make her top international artist. “One thing that happens with winning in any field is that you become a transformed person. You stop being an ordinary being in mind and heart although many people might still see you in the same clothes and shoes. That’s what is happening to me now”, she quipped. Moyo’s work has been exhibited in over 30 local and international exhibitions; a trend she hopes will be maintained.}

_{What does she value most in her own exhibition? “How the viewers respond to the work and their appreciation of the art. The more they came to see the exhibition, the more I am happy. Their comments are significant in shaping my mind and future, they make me feel good”. Art schools, in her opinion are still very few in Zimbabwe and she feels that there should be several of them to cater for the tens of young creative minded individuals.}

_{She lamented the reality of few women practicing art saying females tended to drop out in big numbers after enrolling at art institutions. “They appear like they are being forced. Some end up getting married and their husbands often stop them as they are suspicious of their behaviour when they go out to exhibition openings, or when they travel to outside the country on exchanges, workshops or exhibitions”. She has trained at major art schools in Zimbabwe beginning with a stint at the most established Peter Birch School of Art before attending at the BAT Visual Art School (now National Gallery Visual Art Studios and then at the Harare Polytechnic.}

_{In 2005 she attended her first regional visual art workshop with Umoja Camp in Maputo.}